Monday, October 19, 2015

Reflection on the Academy for Spiritual Formation (Singapore) 2015

The first Academy for Spiritual Formation (Singapore) which
is associated with Upper Room Ministries in the United States was held in
Majodi Centre in Johor Bahru, Malaysia from 12-15 October 2015. This is the
first time it is held outside the US. About 20 academies are organised in the
States annually and I have always wanted to attend one. It is a wish fulfilled
when I (a Malaysian) was invited by the Singaporean organisers to attend this
inaugural academy. So it was with great anticipation that I went to the academy
and when I checked into the centre and take note of the decorations and the
programme, I felt I have ‘come home’! I have been interested in spiritual
formation for more than thirty years and to come into a community of liked
minded people is such a blessing.

The program of the academy was designed to follow the rhythm
of worship and life. Every day, it starts with morning prayer, food
(breakfast), lecture/talk, silence and solitude/personal quiet reflection,
group sharing, food (lunch), some free time, lecture/talk, silence and solitude/personal
reflection time, Eucharist, food (dinner), covenant (small group) sharing,
night prayer, and then the great silence/no talking until the next morning at
morning prayer. This is a good rhythm but it took me almost three days before I
can enter it. I struggled at Morning Prayer because I am used to have my coffee
the first thing after I wake up. It was really a struggle in my decaffeinated
state to worship! I must confess that I spent most of the reflection and free
time sleeping for the first two days. I was so exhausted and I believe many of
the participants were too. While this is a good rhythm for the academy which is
in an artificial organised set up, I do not think it is workable in our daily
lives. Most of us live lives of organized chaos; mine is anyway. Mainly I wake
up and pray that the day will be good and collapse at night, thanking God that I
survived the day. It does not approximate the medieval monastic rule of life
this rhythm is patterned after.

The morning, Eucharist, and evening prayers are actually
one-hour long worship services. And it is highly liturgical. I was told it was ecumenical.
The worship leaders, homilies and liturgies were excellent. I enjoy attending
liturgical services in traditional liturgical churches. These churches have
long traditions. Attending and participating the liturgies in this academy
feels strange to me as I do not sense any church traditions behind it. It is
like attending the service of independent churches but with more words. Some of
the actions had me mystified, like pouring water out of a jar into a bowl,
until it was explained to me (I was told it is like baptism but why at the
beginning of the service, I wonder). The introduction of some Asian hymns in an
attempt at contextualization was good as many of the hymns in the Upper Room hymnal
are new to me. The daily theme of return, rest, renewal and re-engage was meaningful
to me as a movement of entering and leaving. The daily decorations of the
altars were beautiful and a credit to the creativity of the Singapore team. The
addition of a labyrinth, and a prayer room were excellent facilities I make use
of frequently after I have rested and moved into the flow of worship and
silence.

The small group discussion at the end of a day was wonderful
and helpful. I am so glad to make the acquaintance of my covenant group members;
to feel their warm acceptance, to share and pray with and for one another.
We are now good friends and even have a Whatapps group. May we continue to edify
one another.

The academy speaker was Majorie Thompson who took both the
morning and afternoon sessions. I understand that in the States, there will be
two speakers; one for the morning and the other for the afternoon sessions. I
have no reservations about Majorie taking all the sessions. I have been looking
forward to meeting her ever since I read her book Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life in 1995.
I am so glad she has autographed for me her new 2014 second edition which I
bought especially for this purpose. I regret I did not bring and offer to her
my books on spiritual formation: Till We
are Fully Formed, Spiritual Formation
on the Run and Tales from the
Monastery. Not too sure she will read them anyway. I find Majorie a
gracious lady, soft-spoken and very open about her struggles; a wounded healer.
The theme was Sabbath. There was a lot about Sabbath which she shared that I am
still processing. New insights came when she shared about her Sabbath from
ministry during her time of mourning after the death of her husband, and also
about being Sabbath for one another (Sabbath sanctuary). The theologian in me
is still trying to come to terms with them. I especially enjoyed her sharing
about Henri Nouwen whom she had worked with.

These four days are wonderful days of dwelling in a
spiritual safe place to rest and renew. It feeds the scholar and the mystic in
me. There are elements here that appeals to these aspects of me. There are some
confusion amongst some participants whether this is a conference or a retreat.
Some expected more teaching and are mystified by the contemplative aspects.
Other expect a retreat and long for more periods of silence of solitude. I find
there is a wonderful balance here.

I summarise what I have learnt as that Sabbath is the
intentional synchronizing of our natural rhythm in homecoming to stop-rest and
renewal in a space-time container with God in our daily life. I am reminded
that Sabbath is essential and I need to intentionally make space for it in my
busy weekly schedule. What is wonderful is that I have a beautiful encounter
with God in the academy. It did not happen at any specific spot like during my walk in the labyrinth
or prayer time. It is a general sense of His presence, healing and refreshing
me. He affirms and confirms the direction I try to serve Him. And that is exactly
all I needed. Amen.

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About Me

Christian spirituality is the interaction of my daily life, my Christian belief, my thoughts, my dealing with people, and my experience of God. Here are my random musings and reflections on life, God and all that stuff